Panjab University (PU) has joined a select club of universities such as Cambridge and Harvard whose official Facebook page has been verified by the social networking site.
Panjab University has become the first Indian Public University whose Facebook page www.facebook.com/official.pu.india-that has been verified. Panjab University public relations director Vineet Punia said, “Facebook verifies only well-known public figures and pages that have a large following as having an authentic identity.

A blue badge would now appear next to Panjab University Facebook page as it has now become a verified page.” He added that verification is done by Facebook to endorse the authenticity of the information provided on the page in question.

Launched on October 21, 2013, Panjab University Facebook page has over 35,000 followers from 45 countries across the world. Fifty-nine percent of these followers are between 18 to 24 years and 29% are between 25 and 34 years. Thirty- five percent of the total Panjab University fans are females.

“According to the data provided by the Facebook , PU Facebook Page has got over 65 lakh impressions, which mean that any content associated with the page has been seen 65 lakh times,” said Punia.

It means the number of people who saw Panjab University Page or one of its posts shared by a friend. The viral reach of PU Facebook Page was 22 lakh, its posts, including “likes”, posts on its timeline, comments and shares” were seen by 22 lakh people. Punia attributed the popularity of the page to “student friendly” information posted on it, details of conferences, programmes, results, exam schedules and admission notices, among others.